


Observer

by Oblivion_Wanderer



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Angst, Arguments, Friendship, Gen, Hera doesn't get along with Lovelace well, Hurt/Comfort, set during Do No Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 04:15:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6889519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oblivion_Wanderer/pseuds/Oblivion_Wanderer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From her own confined space, Hera watches as Eiffel is slowly consumed by Decima. Also everyone's fighting and Hera keeps getting into fights with Lovelace. All she wants is for Eiffel not to die.</p><p>Basically 'Do No Harm' from Hera's point of view.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Observer

**Author's Note:**

> Set during episode 26- 'Do No Harm'; told from Hera's point of view.
> 
> I've recently gotten into Wolf 359- I've binged listened to it for the past three days. Episode 26 punched me in the feels, especially with Hera's line of 'anytime when my best friend isn't dying!'. From there I started to imagine what this whole ordeal was like from Hera's point of view.
> 
> Though she is an AI I like to imagine Hera generated her own computerized space where she has a digitized human-like form so she can feel closer to her crewmates, and it is in this space she does most of her monitoring over the station (I also like to imagine this digital form looks similar to Lapis Lazuli from Steven Universe). I don't know much about AI's so sorry if it's a bit weird

For monitoring an entire space station's systems and functions, Hera did pretty well for herself. She preformed her basic duties just like any other member of the crew, and she kept an eye on everyone. She mostly talked to Eiffel and Minkowski, and after all the time she had spent with them, that was enough.

But today, Hera found herself helpless.

Eiffel sounded like he was going to cough up a lung and Minkowski was down beside him, trying to help. There was blood speckled on the floor, Eiffel's blood.

“Commander, what is happening?!” Hera demanded, trying to see what was going on from her limited viewpoint and at the same time trying to understand the situation.

“Eiffel, easy; stay with me.” Minkowski sounded surprisingly calm, or at least pretending to be calm, but it was like she hadn't even heard what Hera said.

Hera bristled, only being able to think of one logical answer. “Why is this happening? Is this-”

“Decima.” Minkowski deadpanned. She had heard Hera this time. “It's gotta be.”

Though she couldn't see it, her audio senors picked up the sound of a door opening. Lovelace stepped into view.

Great. Just great.

“Commander, what is-” Lovelace started, but then she saw Minkowski and Eiffel. “Oh... God.”

Minkowski looked up, her eyes narrowed. “Captain, help me.”

Hera was stuck on the word 'Decima'; the name of the virus that was incubating in Eiffel's body, which was known fact now. The same virus that Hilbert was using for his own research. Hiblert... Hilbert had assured Eiffel that-

Hera felt disbelief and anger.

“He said that it was under control.” She gritted out, making it clear who the 'he' she was speaking about was.

“I know, Hera...”

Lovelace was now also trying to get Eiffel stable, but Hera wasn't listening as she rambled.

“He said he was giving him regular treatments to-!”

“ _I know_ , Hera.” Minkowski repeated, sounding increasingly annoyed.

“Commander, we can't just let-”

She was interrupted again by the overlapping voices of both Minkowski and Lovelace, as well as Eiffel's persistent coughing. No one was listening to her, and Hera felt like she was going to scream.

Hera raised her voice. “What are you waiting for?! We need to-”

But Minkowski was able to silence them all. “Everybody, quiet!”

Hera shut her mouth, regretfully. She listened as Minkowski told her to get the lab ready, raising the temperature and have systems functioning, and gave instructions to Lovelace. Minkowski stood and Lovelace snarled at her to stop, and of course the other scientist snapped back at her, her calm gone. Hera watched from her own little space..

Minkowski said she was going to fetch Hilbert. This involved getting the one man Hera was absolutely infuriated with at this moment, but she knew he was the only one who could help and knew how Decima worked. It ended up with Lovelace going to retrieve Hilbert so she could keep a gun at his head, but Hera ignored her. Instead she followed Minkowski as she carried Eiffel down to the lab.

Hera opened her widow into the lab, where she watched Minkowski put Eiffel on the table. She had gotten the room ready like the Commander had asked. Hera watched Eiffel's body continue to shake and spasm with coughs. His face had gone pale and contorted with pain. Minkowski was telling Eiffel he would be okay, but Hera could not take her gaze away from her sick friend.

 _'Eiffel.'_ She whispered to herself.

The door to the room opened and Hilbert came in, gun to his head courtesy of Lovelace. Hilbert and Minkowski strapped Eiffel down and anxiety rose further in Hera. She may be an AI, but she did have personality, and it pained her to see Eiffel in such distress; not a physical ache, but an emotional one. Hilbert hooked up a heart monitor and began to list off supplies he needed.

Each beep echoed in Hera's audio sensors.

Meanwhile, they were all arguing again. Lovelace proving to be a hindrance to Hilbert, who was actually trying to help Eiffel. Minkowski was surprisingly siding with Hilbert, but Hera understood the situation, because Eiffel was fucking _dying_. Hilbert was yelling at Lovelace, then Lovelace and Minkowski were fighting with each other, and something was smashed onto the floor.

Hera mentally flinched, though nobody would notice.

Lovelace left in a fury and attention returned to Eiffel as Hilbert continued with whatever he was doing. At one point, Hera blacked out her window so she didn't have to see what they were doing to Eiffel, but she was unable to ignore the sounds he was making.

“Hera, what is going on?” She heard Lovelace ask from somewhere.

“Doctor Hilbert is doing his job and taking care of Officer Eiffel. That is all.” She plainly answered.

Back in the room, Eiffel quieted and Hera dared to look again. Eiffel looked like he had been sedated, his eyes closed, but Hilbert explained he had given him a serum that was supposed to help get the virus under control. Hera had a glimmer of hope, but her worry spiked again when Hilbert added that this process could kill Eiffel.

Minkowski and Hilbert started fighting again. Hera couldn't take anymore and closed the window, withdrawing back into her own computer mindspace.

Hera had no physical form like her human co-workers. She was an AI that was basically a hive-mind of the space station. Though, she liked to imagine in her mind she had a form that was restricted to that space. So in her computerized mind, she created a space where she could roam in this form, and still keep track of everything going on around her. It made her feel closer to the others.

In this space, she had the window closed, and stood there for a moment before stepping back and sitting down in the middle of the space.

She had seen Eiffel like this before, months ago when he had been said to have been ill with the flu. She knew it never did settle right with Eiffel, and was suspicious of Hilbert, accusing him of purposely making him sick. Who would have known Eiffel would have been that close to the truth? This time however, it was much worse. Hera clenched her hands together nervously, knowing that Eiffel was in very bad shape, but Eiffel had survived this before. Then again, that time he hadn't been coughing up blood ether.

What was an AI like her supposed to do when one of her crew-mates, one of her friends, was dying?

 _'Eiffel is dying...'_ The phrase sunk into her.

“Hera?”

Lovelace. Hera gave an exasperated sigh and closed her eyes for a moment when the captain spoke her name.

“How may I be of service, Captain?” She answered, more with irritation aimed at Lovelace than anything.

“Report- what's happening in there?” Lovelace asked.

Hera wanted to flat out state that Lovelace was an idiot who already knew what exactly was going on in there. She had plenty she wanted to say to Lovelace.

“Doctor Hilbert is still tending to Officer Eiffel.” She explained, getting up and walking to one side of the space, gliding a hand across the wall and opening a window. Through the camera's lens, she could see Lovelace in the corridor just outside the lab. She hadn't gone far. “No significant changes since the last time you asked, four minutes ago.”

“I want him under constant surveillance.”

 _'Of course you do.'_ Hera thought.

“You're going to help me with this one, Hera” Lovelace continued.

Hera almost laughed. “Just when I think you'd run out of ways to be wrong you push the envelope, yet again.”

Lovelace wasn't pleased. Hera saw her looking up into the camera, asking what was wrong with everyone- her and Minkwoski- and why they were acting like they had forgotten the things Hilbert had done. Hera's hands curled into fists. She hadn't forgotten; Hilbert hijacked her into betraying her friends, ripped her apart and cast her into nothingness. She didn't forget, but it wasn't something that mattered at the moment.

Right now what mattered is Eiffel, how he was rapidly deteriorating because of this dumb Decima and that Hilbert was the only one who could help him. They had to put the past aside for now.

That's what Lovelace wasn't getting. Again, Hera felt like she was being ignored.

“We're not.” Hera was becoming increasingly upset. “But you know when's a great time to ask me to help you with your vendetta against Doctor Hilbert?”

In reality, she was indeed only an AI, but in the space where she did exist in a digitized form, a tear slid down her cheek, brought on by the words she was about to say next.

“...Any time other than when my best friend is dying!” Hera's voice cracked on the last word, accepting the situation with Eiffel completely. It felt wrong to say, but she knew it was the truth.

“I am trying to help your friend.” Lovelace immediately retorted, but that didn't sit with Hera.

“Excuse me if I find this a bit much coming from the one person who's trying to kill me.” Hera scoffed. In honesty, she didn't trust Lovelace any more than she trusted Hilbert. Right now there were two people on this tin can she trusted and one of them was gravely ill.

“You don't know what you're getting yourselves into- I'm not Commander Minkowski, I'm-”

“No, you're not!” Hera yelled. “You're not that lucky.”

Something in her cracked, and before she knew it, she was continuing on, saying things to Lovelace she had just been wanting to say. She'd had enough of Lovelace and someone needed to put her in her place.

“I know in your head you're some kind of white knight charging in to save us helpless idiots, but in reality, Commander Minkowski and Officer Eiffel have actually stopped Doctor Hilbert's plans and kept everyone on their crew alive; both things which, last time I checked, you weren't able to do. Maybe there's some new plot afoot, but if there is, we'll find a way to stop it. In the meantime, we don't need you babysitting us.”

With her rant over, Hera took a moment to process all of the things she had just said. It's not like she regretting saying what she said; she had only spoken what was on her mind and Lovelace was getting on her last nerve (maybe circuit was the better choice of word). Hera felt sort of better she had gotten that out of her system.

Of course, Lovelace continued on with her paranoia and suspicion, saying that Hilbert was going to get them when they least expected it. Hera rolled her eyes and statistically voiced her response. Clearly trying to talk some sense into her wasn't going to work and her suspicions against Hilbert were rooted deep into her.

Although, on some level, she did see where Lovelace was coming from...

“Look...” Hera sighed. “I get it. He hurt you, he hurt people you loved. It's not about that pain, or the loss, or the guilt... It's the impedance. It's feeling there's nothing you can do because they've taken your life away from you. They think so little of you that they decide whether you live or die, and there's nothing you can do about it.” Hera was now thinking back and referencing her own betrayal she suffered at the hands of Hilbert.

He used her to try and kill her friends and then kill her too.

She could relate to Lovelace that way at least.

“No one should have to live through that...” She said, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Then why are you argu-”

“And no one who has gone through that should have the gall to do the same to anyone else!” Had Lovelace not heard a word she was saying? Or maybe she was still trying to process it. “Have you even thought about what happens when you climb aboard your shuttle and you blast off into the sunset? What happens to me?”

Yes, that was another issue Hera had, because Lovelace was so bent on her plan that Hera would be stranded here alone, or probably destroyed along with this base. That was also another reason why she was afraid for Eiffel. If he died, it would be one less person in her life and there would be a hole where he had been.

Hera tilted her head down away from the window. From her first day of activation she had grown attached to these people. She didn't want to be alone.

She heard Lovelace say that she still wanted to destroy this place more than anything, and Hera was only half listening because she didn't want to hear it. However...

“...I would never do it at the cost to your life.” Lovelace admitted.

Hera looked up. _'What? After all you said? Can't go through with your threat?'_ She should feel relieved, and she did, but she didn't trust Lovelace fully.

“Oh! Oh, oh- so you- what- you let us believe for weeks that you were going to blow me up?!” Hera demanded. “How silly of us to be so-”

Lovelace interrupted, forcing Hera to shut up for the moment. She listened and glared down at Lovelace as she droned on about that she had no choice and that this was the only way anyone would listen to her. She listened like a good AI system, but eventually enough was enough.

“You need a new dictionary.” Hera snarked when Lovelace was done talking.

“What am I supposed to do?” Lovelace questioned. “Am I supposed to go and leave you alone with-”

“What a fantastic idea!” Hera said with a fake cheeriness. If it would get Loveless off her digitized back- “I'm glad that you finally got there. So please, with sugar and a cherry on top! Leave. Us. Alone.”

She felt a bit satisfied with herself when Lovelace muttered a “fine, if that's what you want”, and she watched the woman walk out of view of the camera, stating she was going to work on her ship. Hera closed the window and collapsed down on her knees, giving an exhausted sigh.

Hera understood Lovelace's concerns and suspicions, but she was going about it the wrong way and clearly underestimated her friends. If only Lovelace would let it go for five minutes and help for once.

Still wary of Lovelace herself, Hera lay down on her abdomen, tapped the floor and pulled up a couple cameras to track Lovelace. After a couple minutes, she found Lovelace walk into where her ship was docked.

“I should probably inform Minkowski about this, just in case.” Hera said to herself. She closed the camera windows and closed her eyes for a moment. For an AI, dealing with Lovelace did take its toll on some level outside of physical.

Her eyes flung open again at the sound of an alarm going off, but it wasn't one to indicate a system failure. She faintly heard the sound of raspy breathing- she didn't need to open a window to know who it was.

“Eiffel...!” She gasped.

Hera pushed herself off the floor and hurried over to one side to pull up the window into the room where Hilbert was attending to Eiffel.

“...his lung just collapsed.” Hilbert said.

Hera stilled. _'No- Hilbert said this was under control!'_

Hilbert dug out something sharp and Hera's eyes widened. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't; she was frozen. She watched Hilbert cut into Eiffel to hook him up to something and eventually he started breathing somewhat okay again, though to her Eiffel sounded just as bad as before. Hilbert turned and spoke to Minkowski, and then Hera remembered what she had to say.

She tried not to think about Eiffel lying on the table looking so sickly and broken.

“Commander, I don't want to distract you here-” She began, before Minkowski cut in, giving her permission to speak as way of a distraction. Hera couldn't blame her. “Captain Lovelace has boarded her shuttle. She hasn't touched the armory or any explosives.”

In her view, Minkowski shrugged. “Well, not much we can do about that. Keep me updated on our status.”

Though no one would see it, in her space she managed a weak smile. “Of course.” She paused, she shifted her gaze to Hilbert- the camera did not move of course though- and her smile disappeared. “Commander, can I- may I have a frank word with Doctor Hilbert?”

Hilbert looked up at her. “What is it you need?”

“Sir, permission to speak freely?”

Minkowski glanced up at her. “Granted. What's on your mind, Hera?”

She gathered her thoughts for a moment, though she glitched like static in doing so. She felt it run through her system like when the normal glitches happened in her speech. Times when this kind of glitch happened though it left her slightly embarrassed. Maybe it was actually because she was allowed to speak freely for this moment. She shook it off.

“Thank you, Commander. Normally, my decorum protocols effect how I address station officers, but I need what I'm about to say to actually sink in to that murderous fiend's head.”

Hilbert crossed his arms. “What is it you want?”

“What I want is to remind you of what's at stake for you personally.” Hera began. “See, Officer Eiffel- He's your deadman switch. If you let him die, or if you do anything that does not fall under the category of do no harm, _I_ will go off.” A sinister tone creeped into her voice. Hera wanted Hilbert to know that these were not idle threats. “I will rain acid on your ass. I will raise the temperature in the room so high that your skin will crack and bubble and burn. I will vent you into space through a hole the size of a quarter. And if I'm feeling very, very generous, I won't do all those things slowly. Have I made myself clear?”

Hilbert looked a bit dumbstruck, but she assumed he got the message. After a silent moment, he answered with a quiet, “Yes. Very clear.”

“Good. That's all I wanted to say.”

Now that he had a bit of incentive, Hera felt rather proud of herself.

But that was quickly extinguished.

There was another sound she picked up. Hera wondered what was going wrong this time, and Minkowski said something before she could even speak.

“What now?”

Hilbert typed something in on his laptop. “Blood. He's bleeding internally.”

Hera put a hand over her mouth. _'No...!'_

She watched Hilbert rummaging around for something, before he revealed that Eiffel needed a transfusion and the last batch of synthetic blood would not work. They spoke, but they didn't need to say anymore for Hera to understand. She knew the blood types of all her crewmates except Lovelace. She also knew none of them would work for Eiffel. His blood type was B negative. Minkowski suggested synthesizing a new batch, but Hera knew just as well as Hilbert that it took way too long.

They didn't have 96 hours and Eiffel would be dead by then.

There was nothing left they could do.

She listened as the beeps on Eiffel's heart monitor slowed, sinking Hera's hope further

_'No, no, no- Eiffel!'_

“No! After all the crap we...” Minkowski sounded desperate and at a loss for words.

Hera, not wanting them to hear her, shut the window and withdrew back. She couldn't bear to see Eiffel suffer anymore. She took another few steps back before she tripped over herself and fell on the floor of the space.

She didn't bother getting up...

When Hera had first been activated over 500 days ago and got acquainted with everyone, she honestly found Eiffel to be a tad bit annoying. She vocalized this and his response proved amusing to her. In reality, he was the first person she bonded with. He became her best friend. She probably had more conversations with Eiffel than anyone else in this place. She secretly fretted about him any time he got into any sort of trouble that was a risk to his life.

The first time Eiffel got sick, before they knew the truth, she wasn't supposed to talk to him for his own good. She worried, but not like she did now.

At times like this, Hera wished she had a physical form so she could help the ones she cared about. If she had a physical form and the right bloodtype, Hera would not hesitate to giving Eiffel blood to save his life. She couldn't do anything, and she felt just as helpless as when Hilbert pulled out her circuitry around Christmas. It was a horrible feeling to know she couldn't do anything, just like how Lovelace was helpless to her own situation she endured long ago.

That was the problem with being an AI. Hera lived as a machine; she didn't suffer physical traumas like humans did. It wouldn't go so far to say she was immortal. As long as the station was alive, she was alive. Humans on the other hand, they were mortal and fragile. They had set lifespans. Hera did not.

Perhaps that was the most frustrating thing, and why it was making Hera so upset. She didn't want to be alone. Hera didn't want her best friend to die and leave her alone. Not truly alone, there was still the others, but alone all the same.

She didn't want Eiffel to die.

But he was dying.

Hera curled up on the floor of the space and cried quietly. They weren't real tears, they didn't feel like it, but she kind of wished they were.

A request came through from Lovelace asking to balance the fuel tanks, to which she angrily started the run sequence. She didn't want to deal with Lovelace when she had this going on. She was too worried and scared for Eiffel.

She knew he would probably lose him. He'd leave her alone.

After a few minutes, she felt like she had exhausted herself and resolved to lay there with her eyes closed, waiting for Minkowski to speak up and pronounce Eiffel dead.

“Hera, were you able to run the fuel balance?”

She stirred to life. That wasn't Minkowski; it was Lovelace.

“Hera?” Lovelace tried again. “Fuel balance?”

Hera knew she had to answer. She didn't want to, but it was her job to do these things. Like any other member of the crew, she had a job.

“Fuel for your aircraft boosters has been balanced.” Hera replied, pushing herself up into a sitting position.

“What about flight conditions?”

Hera resisted the urge to snap at her. She pulled up some readings and ran them off to Lovelace. “The star is emitting some weird radiology signals, but nothing of concern for you.”

Lovelace approved of these readings and a silence stretched between them for a long moment. Hera thought she could go back to waiting to hear the inevitable, but Lovelace just had to open her mouth.

“Hera-”

And she was not in the mood for this. “With all due respect, sir, your shuttle computer should be able to handle the rest.” She wanted to go back and get on with the mourning.

“Hera, I-”

“Captain, I am programmed to respond when called, and I haven't found a loophole to get around that one yet, so fine; you ask about the fuel, I tell you about the fuel. You ask about the weather, I tell you that. Whatever condescending exit statement you want to make, I'm not interested.”

Lovelace sighed and Hera thought that finally she had taken the hint. She was more interested in her dying friend.

“Would it kill you to try and give me a little bit of respect?” She asked.

Hera scoffed at her again. “Why should I? Try giving a damn, a half a damn, a quarter damn! About my crew, about anything other than your plans, then we'll talk.”

Lovelace tried again, but Hera was not interested. She said she really did care about them, but Hera was having a hard time believing that, especially when all she talked about was her stupid plan to get out of here and blow up the station, which would end Hera's life. She accepted that she would be a casualty in Lovelace's plan.

But then Lovelace started into this rant about how she's been in the same situation and that she doesn't want to see it repeated. Hera heard real emotion when Lovelace said that she was really trying, but the whole scenario was difficult enough as it was. She said that was the reason behind how she was acting. Funny how first it was using fear to convince them to help, and now this. However, this one sounded a bit more genuine to Hera, which caught her by surprise.

Hera took these words into consideration, and she did accept part of them as truth, but she still had some things to say to Lovelace. She'd already gone off on enough people today; why stop now?

“Captain Lovelace, you are... without a doubt... the dumbest person I've ever met.”

“What?!” Lovelace sounded appealed.

“It's a small sample size, sure,” Hera continued. “but still an impressive achievement. I can print you a certificate if you like. Yes? No?”

“ _What is wro-_ ”

“I am sorry you feel the weight of the known universe on your shoulders, I'm sorry that you can't have friends because they'll stop you from making a big, scary choice. But that choice isn't yours to make. There are four people on this station. Right now, while you're having this pity party for yourself, one of them is bleeding out on the operating table!”

Sorrow came when she thought of Eiffel, but Hera determined to finish what she was saying.

“So if you want to go on your crazy revenge quest to keep being right all the time and keep doing things your way... _Get the hell out of here_. Otherwise, if you're going to stay, shut up and get used to the idea that you have a lot to learn.”

There was a beep and Hera knew that meant the shuttle was ready. Lovelace could leave any time she wanted. Good.

“Engine sequencing complete. You're clear to start number one.” Hera growled before ending the conversation.

All was quiet in the space and she was alone at last. Not the kind of alone she liked but alone as in away from Lovelace. Let her leave. Hera didn't like her attitude anyway. She'd been like this ever since she docked at the station.

Against better judgment, she tapped the floor and brought up the window into the lab. If Eiffel was going to die, she might as well wait here for the confirmation. She heard the beeping, slower than the last time she shut the window. How long would it be before it stopped completely? She looked at Eiffel, wishing she could be there physically so she could take his hand and tell him he would be alright, even though it was a lie.

“No good, Commander.” Hera heard Hilbert say. “Vitals are still slowing down.”

She knew that. She could bring up the monitors if she wanted to, but she didn't, not wanting them to show her the exact moment when Eiffel's heart would stop. She wondered if he was dreaming, if he was dreaming about space. Or maybe he was dreaming of nothing. Hera often wondered what dreams were like. She couldn't dream.

Suddenly, the door opened and she heard Lovelace's voice.

“Commander?”

Hera turned her eyes away from Eiffel to watch Lovelace, wondering why she was there.

“What do you want?” Minkowski asked.

“If you're here, you're helping.” She looked at Hilbert. “That's what you said, right? Take my blood- O negative; universal donor.”

 _'She's O negative?'_ Hera questioned silently. _'Eiffel's_ _on the brink of death_ _, she's a universal donor, and I almost convinced her to leave!'_ Well, she was expecting Lovelace to leave no matter what, but it didn't change the fact she had verbally told Lovelace to go away if she wasn't going to get along with the rest of the crew.

“Good enough?”

“It may cause anaphylactic reaction, but it will keep him going.” Hilbert confirmed.

Hera had never felt happier.

_'She can save him!'_

They prepped Lovelace for transfusion and hooked her up to Eiffel. Hera watched with anticipation as the blood from Lovelace started to transfer over to Eiffel. Within a few tense minutes, there showed some tiny improvement.

“Good. Good.” Hilbert confirmed.

Hera smiled in her space, unseen by her crewmates. Eiffel was going to be okay. Her best friend was alive.

She curled up by the window and continued to watch.

“Thank you, Captain Lovelace.” Minkowski said.

“Ah, no; thank my dad for his sweet, sweet O negative genes.” Hera laughed at this, but kept it confined to her own space. “And thank your lucky stars for that AI.” She saw Lovelace smile and look up at the camera where she was. “She's got a hell of a mouth on her.”

Hera blinked, and settled down again. Lovelace could have left, gone anywhere, but instead she chose to come back and help Eiffel. That spoke volumes to Hera.

_'Thanks, Captain.'_

She still didn't like or trust Lovelace all that much, but Hera respected her a little bit more.

 

* * *

 

_(Three days later)_

 

Hera had various system displays up in front of her, checking in with the others every now and then as they conducted maintenance on the station. She had another panel up with readings about the dwarf star because of the readings she picked up a couple days prior. They were still weird to her, so she decided to keep an eye on it.

She also had a window open in the lab, looking down on Eiffel. Hera had kept it open ever since Lovelace gave him a transfusion of her blood. Hilbert said Eiffel would need to be monitored, and Hera was happy to volunteer to help with that, as a form of keeping vigil. Sometimes she watched him when she wasn't busy, but it wasn't much to see. He'd been sleeping for the first day, and drifting in and out of consciousness after.

Much to Hera's relief, and to everyone else, Eiffel was getting better.

She closed one panel and pulled another over, then quickly looked over at the readout from the star. Suddenly she heard a weak groan. She hid all the other pannels for now and sat down in front of the window open to the lab. She was able to make out Eiffel stirring on the table and his eyes fluttering open. He looked more alive than he had three days ago.

“Officer Eiffel?” Hera ventured. “Are you awake?”

“H-Hera?” His raspy voice called after a moment. She understood that he was still recovering and that his voice was weak. “That you...?”

“Yes, I am here.”

He looked towards the camera and smiled. “Hey, baby.”

Hera smiled, remembering the last time he said that to her. It had become sort of a pet name, and she didn't mind.

“Oh, thank goodness you're alright.” Hera said. “We were all worried about you.”

“Really? Even you?”

Hera chuckled. “Yes, even me.”

“How-” He paused to cough. “-long have I been here?”

“Well, you've been here for three days. You were out of it for most of day one, and then in and out following that up to this point. And before you ask, yes, I'm monitoring your vitals and such, per Hilbert's request.”

“Hm... It's all mostly a blur. Don't recall much after I started coughing up blood. Fucking Decima.”

“It's probably normal that you don't fully remember. The high fever you had may have been the cause of this 'blur'; it only recently broke. In any case it was...” Memory from the past few days went through her mind in an instant. “a tense time.”

Hera grew quiet and watched Eiffel's reactions. He looked around at the lab before looking back up at where Hera could see him.

“Hera... are you okay?”

“Huh?” Her voice glitched on the word. “Yes, Officer Eiffel; I am fine.”

He smiled slyly. “Hera...”

She might as well say it, otherwise Eiffel would keep poking her about it until she complied.

“The day you collapsed... it was a rough day.” She gave in “For everyone. Captain Lovelace was being a pain because she kept getting in Doctor Hilbert's way when he was trying to help you, Commander Minkowski and Captain Lovelace were yelling at each other, no one was listening to anything I had to say... I even had a few spats with Captain Lovelace. Then... then there's you. You were so sick, I... I was afraid.”

Her voice got low and quiet and she put her arms around herself.

“I had to watch as you were slowly dying...”

Hera knew as well as anyone else that Decima circulated within Eiffel. She knew he was carrying the virus, but she had thought Hilbert was giving him regular treatments to manage it. She hadn't anticipated that Eiffel would experience an outbreak of Decima. She didn't want to see Eiffel in that state again.

The image of Eiffel's blood on his hand, a few droplets on the floor, was cold and stark in her memory banks.

Hera folded her hands over her lap. “I didn't want to be alone.”

“But you wouldn't be alone. The others would still be here.”

Hera looked up and checked over the star readout data. “It wouldn't be the same.” Still the same as the last time she checked. She turned her attention back to Eiffel. “This may come as a shock to you, Officer Eiffel, but... you're my best friend. You are the first person I bonded with after I was activated. If you died, yes, the others would still be here, but you wouldn't. I'd be alone without my closest friend.” She sighed. “I guess on that note I'm not too different from Captain Lovelace.”

“Lovelace?”

“I may owe her an apology... I better understand how she feels. She had to watch as the people she cared about most were taken from her, just like all I could do was watch you from here while your health degenerated. I felt... helpless, just like Captain Lovelace had in her own scenario. I still don't like her, but I understand her better. And to think, I almost chased her away- I told her to leave if she wasn't going to help. If she had left, you probably would have been dead because you would never have gotten her blood-.”

“Whoa, Hera.” Eiffel interrupted. “Lovelace gave me some of her blood?”

“Yes. She's a universal donor.” Hera confirmed. “You were... bleeding internally. Doctor Hilbert got it under control, but he said you needed a blood transfusion to replace what was lost. Lovelace donated her blood...” And then she decided to add more. “...after I told her you were bleeding out.” Eiffel gave her a weird look and she could only offer a light unseen smile. “I may have snapped a little.”

“You can be pretty convincing. Thanks, Hera.” Eiffel said. “Gold star for you for putting up with all the crazy. And don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I won't leave you alone-”

Of course at that moment his body decided to send him into a coughing fit. Hera clenched her hands, knowing he was still recovering from the outbreak of Decima in his body plus a collapsed lung among other things.

“Officer Eiffel?! Are you alright!” She anxiously inquired.

Eiffel got himself through it and relaxed back on the table, giving a feeble cough. “Peachy.”

“You probably shouldn't be talking as much as you have. You're still healing, and... you still haven't fully recovered from when your left lung collapsed.”

“Well, that would explain all the hardware.”

“Don't even try to move. Doctor Hilbert has you in restraints and he doesn't want you knocking anything over or lose.”

“Of course, just like last time... Do you think I'd be allowed to have some water?”

“I can contact Doctor Hilbert and Commander Minkowski; tell them you're awake and that you need water. Though Doctor Hilbert is probably going to want to look you over.” Eiffel whined and made a grimace. Hera laughed. “Don't worry, I'll watch him closely. I already made my statement to him.”

Eiffel closed his eyes and tilted his head to one side. “That's my girl.”

Hera leaned forward, feeling relieved that Eiffel was getting back to himself. She preferred him being healthy.

“Um, Officer Eiffel?” She then shyly asked.

“Mmhm?”

“Do you, think there are any spare units I could be hooked up to?”

 

* * *

 

Hera had contacted both Minkowski and Hilbert, as promised, and also put in the request for water. While Eiffel endured an examination from Hilbert, Hera also informed Lovelace that Eiffel was okay. She sounded stoic as usual, probably because of the bomb synced to her own pulse, but there was a hint of relief. She also stated that she was glad to hear Eiffel was okay.

Before Minkowski left, Hera spoke a request to her that she had discussed prior with Eiffel. After a quick glance between her and Eiffel, the Commander agreed. She found a spare, half circle, camera device and Eiffel talked her through syncing Hera up to it. The device was placed near Eiffel on a couple of spare books and a tall stool. This way, Hera could be closer to Eiffel as per request.

Later on at about 22 hundred- though there was no real sense of day or night out here- Eiffel asked about any observations on the dwarf star, if there had been any new intercepted signals while he was under.

“Nothing new on that front.” She explained, moving the panel on archived signals aside. She brought up the panel on the dwarf star. “As for Wolf 359, we've been seeing some strange radiology signals since you first took ill, but so far it hasn't proved to be of much concern. We'll have to continue monitoring.”

“Cool.” He muttered, voice still weak. He was looking at her with a sleepy expression, not like she could blame him. Humans took a great deal of time to recover from ordeals such as this one.

“Would you like some more water?” Hera asked “I can put in a request to have some brought by.”

“Nah. I just...” He tried a deep breath, somewhat managing with his healing lung, but it was good practice.

“Careful. Don't over extend yourself.” Hera warned.

“ 'M good. Still aches though. Like I said... I wanna sleep. I'm tired.”

“You'll be doing plenty of that, but it's good for you.”

“I know.”

“Sleep now, Officer Eiffel.”

“Alright, alright.” He angled his head at her as Hera shut down the lab lights. “Goodnight, Hera.”

Hera curled up in front of the window. She couldn't really sleep, but she could pretend. “Goodnight, Officer Eiffel.”

 


End file.
